


What If I Had A Friend (And Almost Lost Them, Too?)

by lunchlessbaghead



Category: Now You See Me (Movies)
Genre: Angst, First Meetings, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:55:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26918449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunchlessbaghead/pseuds/lunchlessbaghead
Summary: Jack was someone who was used to doing risky things and usually not having any too-bad repurcussions. He'd pickpocketed more people than he would ever be able to count, and made enemies with strangers he knew he'd never see again so it didn't matter anyway. So how was he supposed to react when he found 3 other people, whom he'd never met nor heard of before (aside fromtheJ. Daniel Atlas), that he was going to have to work with to get into some VIP magic club? And how was he going to do it with his roommate/crush being part of it?
Relationships: Jack Wilder/Original Character(s), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> AH, hi! So basically I'm a simp, and I'm gay, and there's no Jack Wilder/OMC so I did it myself!! I hope this inspires others to start writing more for these movies because I love them very much and there's not enough of them. This whole fic is self indulgent so it's mostly romance oriented and very much centered around Jack and Connor (my OC), but! I could, if you guys want, rewrite it as Jack Wilder/Male! Reader and post that separately?
> 
> I also can't believe this is my first published fic, jfc, but yeah! I don't hate it, so!
> 
> Also this is multi-chapter so it's not done yet, and the first chapter is mostly a prologue cuz it's really short, but it introduces you to Connor so I'd recommend still reading it.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Exhausted, Connor flung open the door to his apartment, tossing his bag and jacket aside and collapsing next to Jack on the couch. He pinched the bridge of his nose, groaning and shutting his eyes. He waited until Jack gave some retort about getting better shoes so he'd stop whining that his feet hurt, or that he needs to stop staying up so late so he'd have more energy, but none came. Connor looked over at Jack, who was flipping a large card over in his hands, an unreadable expression on his face. Connor sat up, his brows furrowing a bit as he looked at the card.

"Who'd you steal that off of?" he tried for a joke, but Jack only frowned, a rare, unusual look to see on his usually cheerful exterior. Connor frowned, beginning to worry. "Hey man, you okay? What happened?"

Instead of answering, he handed the card to Connor, bringing his hands up to his face and sighing. Connor looked it over; there was an address and a time on one side, and on the other was the tarot card for death. He breathed in sharply, setting the card down on the table and rubbing his hands on his thighs to calm himself down. He knew it didn't necessarily mean actual death, usually just the death of one era to start a new one, but it still unnerved him. He turned back over to Jack, who was staring ahead, hands pressed together in front of his face with his thumbs under his chin, obviously lost in thought.

"Are you gonna go? Because personally, this sounds like a cult recruit," Jack let out a small laugh at that, turning back over to look at Connor, but his eyes still looked dull; he was afraid.

"I've been thinking about it," Jack started, looking down at the card, "It's risky, but it could actually be something. It might be fun.. I'm just not really sure why I got invited."

Connor hummed, Jack was right; it could be something, and there might be other people in the same boat. Of course, if he did go, Connor was 100% coming with him and nothing could stop him. He didn't need his best friend/definitely-not-crush getting hurt, did he now?

"Well, if you do go, _we_ are gonna go together, alright?" Jack smiled, one of genuine smiles, and nodded shortly, then he fell back onto the couch.

"Well for now, I'm gonna get some shut-eye, because _we_ have a long day tomorrow, and I suggest you do the same," Jack grinned, and Connor laughed, but he still stood up and stretched, turning back to the couch.

"Well to get a good night's sleep, I suggest you use your bed instead of the couch," Connor teased, kicking Jack's leg playfully as he reached out a hand to help the latter up. Jack rolled his eyes, but he took the advice nonetheless, hoisting himself up with Connor's help and making his way to his room. Connor smiled as he watched Jack walk away, catching just a silver of skin as he stretched his hands over his head thus causing his shirt to ride up only a bit, before rounding the corner. Connor forced his eyes back over to the card on the table, bending over and picking it up, scanning the illustration of the eye on the side with the location, located just a few streets away.

He sighed, placing it back on the table and making his way to his own room. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.


	2. Meeting You Became My Favorite Moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack was living on the streets; no job, no home, and no family he could seek out for help. He anticipated it would be like this for awhile, only relying on stolen money and cheap hotels to get by. But this course was interrupted by a certain someone who just happened to be one of the many unfortunate victims of Jack's ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is brought to you all by the amazing people who liked and bookmarked the fic between now and the first publication date! You gave me a big boost of motivation to start writing this chapter, which would've taken much longer had it not been for y'all and a certain person *cough*imtalkingaboutyou comical*cough* that inspired me!  
> Thank you, hope y'all enjoy!! :D

Jack thought that at this point in his life, he'd be living off the streets, relying on whatever cash he could get from basic pickpocketing and slight of hand thievery. But that wasn't the case, at least not for very long, because then he met Connor.

It was a busy day (as busy as you'd expect the streets of NYC to be on a Monday morning), and Jack had planned to swipe a few wallets and maybe do a few card tricks before he found somewhere to stay for the night. Most of the time, he'd find a sleezy hotel that didn't cost too much, but on his worst days, he'd set up in as quiet an alley as he could find and try to get some sleep even with the dripping anxiety that comes with having no walls to keep out intuders. So today, he was aiming to make enough money to find a hotel room for at least the night, and have some left over for food.

He wound through the bustling crowds of the city, "accidently" bumping into a few people and making his way into an alley to count his earnings. He flipped through the newly collected wallets, swiping cash and tossing the rest in the dumpster next to him. But then he froze, gripping the last wallet tightly, as a collection of family photos looked back at him. It was filled nearly to the brim with glowing faces of children and young adults, smiling and laughing with one another.

Normally this wouldn't affect Jack, he would just take whatever cash there was and be on his merry way, but then there were hospital bills tucked in with those photos, and what appeared to be tear-dotted notes signed with a different name than that on the driver's license, and suddenly this person became real to Jack. He closed the wallet, tucking it into the pocket of his jacket, and let out a long sigh. He couldn't steal from this person - at least not more than he already had - so he decided, though somewhat grudgingly, that he would return the wallet to.. what was their name? He quickly pulled the wallet out again, letting out a shaky breath as those same faces stared back at him.

Connor. The owner's name was Connor. Connor Kelly, that is, but what was most important was the address. It was for an apartment complex, one not too far from where Jack was now. He considered mailing it, that way he wouldn't need to meet up with him, but that felt a bit stupid. He could just drop it off it at the front desk, tell the receptionist that he found out on the street. Yeah, he would just do that, no interaction with Connor whatsoever.

But it seemed that wouldn't be possible, because as Jack arrived at the building, he saw the back of a panicked figure with familiar, short, ginger hair pacing in the lobby with a phone to his ear and the receptionist trying to calm him. Great, now he had to give it straight to him. But, on the brightside, he would be able to make sure it made it straight back to Connor.

He pushed open one of the double doors, walking over to the front desk where the other man was walking holes into the lobby carpet. The woman at the front desk looked almost as distraught as Connor, tapping her long ruby nails against the desk as she furrowed her brows in thought. As Jack got closer, he could hear the mostly mumbled conversation between Connor and whomever was on the phone.

"I don't know-- I could've left it - yeah - I could've left it on her desk? I can call her-- yeah, okay, I'll call you back after - no, no, I know I brought it with me, I picked up... okay, but I did pick up some coffee before work--"

The panic in his voice was evident as the conversation continued, and it dawned on Jack that he never really saw how people actually reacted afterwards. All of the little things they kept in their wallet-- the photos that could've easily been the last ones they had of a loved one. He immediately felt the guilt begin to eat away at his insides, because to him, it was only a place to store money, but there could be so much more that Jack had never even thought about. It felt a little stupid to feel so bad about a piece of fabric and some plastic, but it still felt thoughtless to do so little, but be able to affect someone so much.

"Yeah-- okay, okay, yeah, I'll call you back-- yes, I promise- alright, bye- no, I said bye-- yes, good-bye mom!" Jack looked up from where he was leaned against the wall thinking, watching Connor actually turn enough so his face was visible to Jack. He was a bit taken aback, seeing him in-person instead of the tiny photographs in the wallet. It also twisted his gut with more sharp guilt. The man ruffled his hair a bit, grumbling as he began to tap away on his phone. Jack took a step forward and spoke up before Connor could make anymore calls;

"Hey, excuse me, you're Connor, right?" The aforementioned looked up, teal eyes widening as his gaze rested upon Jack. He wasn't sure why - perhaps it was just the guilt - but it sent a shiver down his spine, like he was being pierced by the look he was given.

"Yeah, why?" Connor questioned, but Jack could see the look of hope in his eyes that _maybe this guy found what I'm looking for _, and lucky for him, Jack had.__

__"I, uh, found your wallet, on the street, just a couple blocks down," he lied, but the relief that bloomed on the other's face was enough to quench that guilt for a moment._ _

__"Oh my God, you are my favorite person in the world right now, thank you so, so much!" A smile spread across Connor's face, one that reached his eyes and made Jack smile in return from the sheer joy in it._ _

__"Yeah, of course, man, here-- it doesn't look like anything was stolen," and that was the only truth in his words, he never mentioned that he was the one to contemplate stealing from it in the first place._ _

__"You're seriously a life-saver, I would've died if I didn't get this back," Connor clutched the object to his chest, letting out a loud sigh of relief, "I have some photos in here from ages ago, my mom would've been so heartbroken if I lost them."_ _

__There was that feeling again; it felt like he'd swallowed fire, but alas, he wasn't that kind of magician, he was only a lowly thief with quick hands and wits. And now, he apparently had a heart, too. But he was still trying to figure out whether he liked that or not._ _

__"Hey, how about I buy you lunch or something?" Connor grinned, "It's probably nothing compared to just how much of my mom's wrath you saved me from, but it's something." Jack was about to decline, say he had somewhere to be and run off to steal somebody else's paycheck, but he hesitated when he saw the insistent look on the man's face. And then he also remembered that free food is free food, and whether or not his newly found morals forbid him from taking kind offers from strangers, he had to eat, and it felt nicer not coming from his own - though not truly his in the first place - pocket._ _

__"That sounds nice," Jack grinned, and Connor returned it with a wink before he dragged Jack out onto the busy street and to whatever cheap restraunt was closest._ _

__-_ _

__"Uh, hey, Connor? Can I talk to you for a sec?" It had already been a month since he and Connor had met, and then exchanged numbers, and then ended up hanging out almost everyday. What Connor _still _didn't know was that Jack was homeless, and that that was the reasoning behind him spending almost everynight staying over and sleeping on Connor's couch instead of - as the former likes to say - his "much comfier bed at his own house". But what surprised Jack most was that Connor never actually complained, nor did he ever say no when Jack asked to spend the night or kick him out in the morning. He let him stay as long as he wanted, whenever he wanted. Jack would be lying to say he didn't feel like a mooch.___ _

____"What, did you kill somebody or something? Because I already told you I'm not helping you hide the body," Connor emerged from the kitchenette, smiling when he met Jack's eyes, "There's too much upper arm strength involved that I don't have."_ _ _ _

____"You don't have the wits, either," Jack teased, causing the other to chuckle and make a face of mock offense, "But no, it's uh, it's a bit more realistic than that." A worried look flashed across Connor's face as he sat down on the couch beside him, and Jack felt slightly nervous now. He sucked in a breath, deciding it would be best to just say it- rip it off like a band-aid; "I'm homeless, that's uh.. that's why I've been staying over so much, because I don't really have anywhere else to go. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, I just kinda thought you'd.. ditch me, or something, but that's not really you so-- I'm sorry, I'm just making excuses now, I'll shut up."_ _ _ _

____Connor blinked. Once. Twice. Then he smiled, reaching his hand up and placing it on Jack's shoulder._ _ _ _

____"You didn't have to worry so much, I kinda expected something like that, since y'know, sometimes I'd wake up with you on my couch even when I didn't invite you over, which, speaking of, you do quite often. How do you even get in?" Jack stared, then he laughed, because that wasn't at all the answer he had anticipated. It's not like he'd expected a slap in the face or being called a hobo and kicked out, he just didn't think it'd be so laid back._ _ _ _

____"Yeah, um, I'm sorry about that- I hope I didn't scare you too bad? I uh, I know how to pick locks, I'm a magician, if you remember me ever telling you, that's kind of.. kind of how I met you, actually." This is where Jack really started to worry, because he'd never told Connor how he actually made money, nor the truth about his stumbling upon Connor's wallet. Connor raised his brow at Jack's comment, and the latter steeled himself for his next move._ _ _ _

____"When I found your wallet.. I didn't actually, uh, find it," he cleared his throat, "I pickpocketed you, that's um, that's how I make money. I usually just take the cash and toss the rest but, when I saw all the photos, and the notes, I- I couldn't- I couldn't just throw those away. So I uh, I went to your address from on your license and, y'know, the rest is history." This was where Jack expected to be slapped, or yelled at for lying to him and stealing, but none of that came. Instead he felt Connor wrap both arms around him and _hug him _, pressing his face into Jack's shoulder.___ _ _ _

______"You don't have to steal to make money, Jack, there are things we employed people call 'jobs'," and Jack knew Connor was teasing, but there was still a serious note to his tone, "You can stay with me, if you want, but I don't want you stealing anymore. Real magic isn't making someone's wallet vanish, it's showing them something they didn't think was possible that _amazes _rather than _disappoints _." Connor lifted his head up, looking the other in the eyes, "I can help you find a job - it _is _New York afterall, there's gotta be work somewhere - so please lay off on the pickpocketing, I'm sure you can wring in some cash from just doing a couple card tricks."_______ _ _ _ _ _

____________Now it was Jack's turn to stare, and blink. Once. Twice. Then a grin spread across his face and he hugged Connor back, a sigh of relief escaping past his lips. "Thanks, Connor, you don't know how much this means to me." Connor chuckled, squeezing Jack tighter._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________"What're friends for?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So basically, yeah! That's how Connor and Jack met :D  
> I didn't want to introduce a canonically homeless character as suddenly having a home and not give any explanation, and also I wanted to properly introduce Connor, so this whole chapter is dedicated to backstory :)  
> The next chapter will jump back into movie, so look out for that :D
> 
> Comments and kudos are very much appreciated! ^^

**Author's Note:**

> Uh, yeah! Chapter 1 coming soon ish?? Depends on how much time I have, but please lmk if you like it so far by just dropping kudos or a comment, both are appreciated and honestly make my day! I don't really know where I'm gonna go with this, but it's basically gonna be like if there was one other factor in Dylan's plan; Connor. I'd like to see how Jack would react to having something on the line other than his life, which omg I'm having so much fun thinking about.  
> Anywho, you can check out my Tumblr, @lollianpaladin, where I post art very rarely and mostly reblog memes, if you want, or my Insta (same @) for just art!  
> Thanks so much for reading, I can't wait to write more :D


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